The Brewers announced this morning that they’ve signed first baseman Jon Singleton to a minor league contract. Robert Murray of FanSided, meanwhile, reported (on Twitter) that Milwaukee is also in agreement with first baseman Tyler White. Minor league contracts for players not a 40-man roster at the end of last season are still permissible during the lockout.
White and Singleton are both best-known for their time with the Astros. The former debuted in the majors in 2016, serving as a part-time righty bat to work into the first base/designated hitter mix. After a very strong .276/.354/.533 showing across 237 plate appearances in 2018, White looked on his way to cementing himself as a long-term fixture on the roster. The former 33rd-round pick struggled to a .208/.308/.304 mark in 279 trips to the dish between Houston and the Dodgers the following season, though, and he hasn’t made it back to the big leagues since.
In 2020, White signed on with the SK Wyverns of the Korea Baseball Organization. He only made nine appearances in South Korea, and he returned to the U.S. this past season. White signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays last winter. Despite a .292/.424/.476 showing with the Jays’ top affiliate in Buffalo, he didn’t get a big league shot with Toronto. White, owner of an impressive .306/.406/.523 line across five seasons at Triple-A, will try to play his way back into the big leagues with the Brew Crew.
Singleton has only appeared in two major league seasons, but he may be the more well-known of the Brewers’ two new first basemen. The left-handed hitter appeared among Baseball America’s top 100 overall prospects every season from 2011-14. In June 2014, Houston signed Singleton to a $10MM contract extension before he made his major league debut, a precursor to similar pacts for players like Scott Kingery, Evan White, Eloy Jiménez and Luis Robert.
The Singleton deal didn’t pan out as the Astros had hoped, as he hit just .171/.290/.331 across 420 MLB plate appearances from 2014-15. He spent the next two seasons in the high minors, and Houston released Singleton in May 2018, not long after he was suspended for the third time in his career after testing positive for a drug of abuse. (Singleton had been open in the past about his struggle with marijuana addiction).
Singleton hasn’t played in affiliated ball since his release from the Astros, but he did return to professional baseball this year. Now 30 years old, he suited up with the Diablos Rojos del México, mashing at a .321/.503/.693 clip over 189 plate appearances. That’s a small sample in an incredibly hitter-friendly environment, but it was eye-opening enough to earn him another chance in the affiliated ranks.
Jon Singleton. Now that’s a name I’ve not heard in a long time. A long time.
I wonder if he’s related to Ben.
He’s Ben’s second cousins brother in laws nephew ⚾️
Singleton is back?? Are they gonna bring AJ Reed out of retirement too?
(weird, I thought I’d posted a comment, but its gone missing…)
Singleton didn’t retire, he just washed out.. But Im not sure how one can be addicted to marywanna.
You can become addicted to anything if you develop a mental or emotional dependence on it.
Sure. However most things are not harmful. Only reason weed has harmed his career is because of antiquated rules.
I was addicted to caffeine, and didn’t even know it. I gave it up once, and the withdrawal was insane. Like someone nailed a wooden hanger to my neck, shoulders and back.
Like being a chocoholic, but for weed or crystal meth.
Most things are not harmful? That’s a pretty poor take. Anyways, weed is harmful though. Anything you set on fire and inhale into your lungs is bad for you. That’s just common sense.
assumptions are harmful
Anything you set on fire and inhale into your lungs is bad for you.
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Just for the record, I am pro-decriminalizing pot. I see no difference between alcohol and pot.
But I get a kick out of people that claim it is harmless. I like beer. I like burgers off my grill seared on the outside, and red in the middle. There are plenty of things I like, but I still know that they have an unhealthy component to them.
Some fire under Hiura’s butt.
Singleton is a name I haven’t heard in a while, former top prospect
Is weed legal in Wisconsin :)?
If it has cheese in it.
That’s dope man. After 420 mlb plate appearances and 2 seasons in the high minors Jon should return with a bong, I mean bang.
You’re trying too hard.
You took my hit.
Singleton lol, blast from the past. Guy blow (literally) through the $10 mill?
Nope. Not at all. He got one of those Bonillia deals, on much smaller scale, obviously. The Astros just finished paying him 2021.
The former future of 1B for Houston was thought to be one of Singleton, White or AJ Reed.. instead Yuli took that lol.
I guess Singleton’s run out of the $10 mil. He did hit some towering HRs at Minute Maid, but way too few HRs, way too many strikeouts. Good luck to Singleton. Tyler White I thought was going to be a useful bench player, but somehow just faded away. Looks like he is still mashing AAA pitching. My guess is at best a bench player who can go on a hot streak every once in a while.
You might partially be on to something. According to the baseball reference page this is the last year he’s receiving guaranteed money from that contract ($250 k).
Singleton is still around?
I was already aware Jonathan Singleton had been playing in Mexico. Whole lot of swing or miss. Yes he has definitely had issues with the chronic.
Tyler White can hit. Plain and simple the guy can hit. I don’t know if there’s some scrambled marbles occasionally or what, but he’s either extremely hot or the opposite
Lot of interesting guys playing in Mexico, like Erick Aybar and kennys vargas, Singleton had a 1200OPS over 46games, based on his age he’s worth taking a shot on, a lot of players mysteriously turn a corner around age 27. Astros cut JD Martinez at 25, anything can happen. Don’t think JD was hitting like Singleton used to hit tho lol
Singleton is to baseball as JaMarcus Russell was to NFL
I’m actually not sure who that is worse for…
Shut up!
Sincerely,
A Raiders fan
Sorry, I’m old. Rickey Williams.
Robert Mitchum.
Mitchum looked like he could play some defensive line
Singleton wasnt 1-1. Appel is closer, or maybe Matt Bush.
Wow, like most of you guys I have not heard that name in awhile…Philly made a mistake getting rid of him we all thought….Good for him getting a payday. Hopefully he can rebound…
Phils knew he had a problem early on no mistake they were looking to get rid of him and Houston knew what they were getting.
So the Brewers are in the market for husky-sized first basemen.
If they take Dowdy’s job,they have to fit in his uni
marijuana isn’t addicting.
Getting high on anything can be addictive. I know someone who gave it up after years of smoking. He had headaches and other physical symptoms. He also mentioned how foggy his thinking had gotten.
still not addicting
Absolutely false. If it weren’t addicting, people wouldn’t be habitual users.
I think you’re addicted to misusing word addicting, There you go, try habit.
there’s a difference in a habit and an addiction. marijuana isn’t addicting.
marijuana is addicting. maybe not more than anything else, but it is. look it up.
So now does White able to play third at all in a pinch or was that JD Davis? wasn’t he in with these 3 guys in Reed, White, and Singleton?Well let’s hope maybe one can turn out for us to help with the DH spot. Pulling for White want someone who makes a decent amount of contact. Maybe they will move rosters to 28 , then we might be able to carry Huira, White, and Tellez to handle 1st and DH. But what do I know I also wanna see Dahl turn it around too , to be 5th outfielder.
Tyler White, Rowdy Telliz, Daniel Volgelbach…. Do the Brewers miss Prince Fielder that much or do they want these behemoths to boost the Bratwurst sales?
Anthony Rizzo would fit perfectly into the Brewers. Their pitching is so good, his good defense at 1B would boost the already good IF defense and further improve the pitching. Furthermore, Rizzo off the board reduces other teams’ options.
I think it’s a Wisconsin thing. People up there really appreciate a strong offensive line.
Singleton was a rising star with the Phillies and was traded to Houston,He would just rather smoke weed than play baseball.Most people after getting 10million would just go cold turkey off the weed but not this clown who wasted 1/2 his life.He won’t make the team and
will fail his drug test in spring training.
Singleton, Kingery and White are the exact reason you don’t buy out arb years before a single mlb at bat.
Steve Howe, Josh Hamilton, Darryl Strawberry. Baseball never learns. Never trust an addict..
it would be one heck of a story if Singleton could overcome his demons. For every comeback like this, 99% tend to fall short, but that even 1% can do it is inspiring.